POLICE armed response vehicles are patrolling 24 hours-a-day around Birmingham after intelligence chiefs warned of a Mumbai-style terror attack on the city.

The West Midlands force has DOUBLED the number of armed officers in the city, TREBLED the armed vehicles on patrol and deployed specialist marksmen trained to carry out “head shots” on terrorist gunmen.

The move comes after a Birmingham man was killed in the Al Qaeda heartland of North West Pakistan last month, leading to fears that he was at the centre of a terror cell intent on copying the Mumbai attacks by targeting hotels in European cities.

More than 170 people were shot dead in the 2008 Indian terror atrocity after heavily armed militants took over two five-star hotels.

Preparations by cops for a similar attack in Birmingham were revealed last night by a senior police source.

“Top-ranking members of the firearms team were called down to London two weeks ago for a COBRA meeting to discuss the threat of terrorists laying siege to a city as they did in Mumbai,” he said.

“The police have received information from Pakistan that a similar attack in this country would most likely happen in Birmingham, London, Leeds or Manchester. They fear an attack on a major hotel, just like in Mumbai, but it could happen anywhere in the city.

“The response has been to step things up in Birmingham.

‘‘Usually there is only one Armed Response Vehicle on patrol, but now there are three patrolling the city at all times – they’re on the move 24 hours-a-day.

“On top of that, there are two specially equipped Land Rovers staffed with armed officers, and at least one specialist trained to take head shots, just like an army sniper.

“Tactical firearms experts have also been deployed and, despite what the Government says about budget cuts, there have been no qualms about handing out plenty of overtime for this.

“Force bosses have doubled the number of firearms officers, and they’ve been given MP5s and Glock handguns – very advanced weaponry usually just for troops.

“They are becoming more like mini-army squadrons than police units.”

The Indian financial capital of Mumbai was bought to its knees by the three-day terror attack, which killed 173 people and injured more than 300 others.

During the siege, the world-renowned Oberoi and Taj Mahal hotels were seized by heavily armed members of Kashmiri extremist group Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT).

LeT extremists are known to train in the same remote mountainous regions of North West Pakistan that Al Qaeda currently uses as its base.

The two groups share close ties, with 2001 “shoe bomber” Richard Reid and convicted British terror plotter Dhiren Barot both receiving instruction at LeT camps before being sent out on operations by Osama Bin Laden’s terror network.

A Brummie Jihadist plotter, referred to by his codename Abdul Jabbar, was killed in an unmanned US drone airstrike near the Afghan border with North West Pakistan last month, after spies caught him plotting with a new Al Qaeda-linked group, called The Islamic Army of Great Britain.

His death was followed by an air strike on an eight-man German terror cell in North Waziristan, also aimed at disrupting Al Qaeda plans for a terror attack in Europe.

The Foreign Office released a statement earlier this month warning travellers to Europe of a heightened risk of attacks, and major attractions including the Eiffel Tower have stepped up security in the wake of the increased threats.

On Tuesday last week it was revealed that police across Britain are being given extra training alongside SAS units to prepare for a siege attack by Al Qaeda-trained “armies”.

Former security minister Lord West said: “These people like the Mumbai terrorists, are a bit like soldiers. Therefore you have to give heavy weapons to the police, and train them how to do it.

“There is no way, except at immense cost, that you could have SAS-level troops in every part of the country to be able to respond in the timescale you’d need.

‘‘The police are there, and have to do that first response.”

The UK’s terror threat level remains at “severe”, the second highest rating, where it has been since January.

Chillingly, our police source said the threat to Birmingham could come from INSIDE the city.

And he warned that the decision to remove CCTV cameras from Washwood Heath and Sparkbrook following an outcry from local residents had hampered efforts to trace suspected extremists.

“The counter terrorism officers have got a major problem trying to gather evidence against suspects,” he said.

“That’s always a difficult job, but it’s been made twice as hard by all this nonsense over the CCTV cameras. They could have really made a difference in tracing extremists.”

The cameras were mothballed in June after it was revealed that funding for the £3 million scheme, which formed a surveillance “ring of steel” around the mainly Islamic communities of Sparkbrook, Washwood Heath and Alum Rock, had come from a national counter-terrorism grant, rather than from West Midlands Police’s regular budget.

Last month, the Sunday Mercury revealed that four of the 12 most dangerous terror suspects in Britain are living in the Midlands.

They have all been placed under security service control orders, which restrict their bank accounts, passports and movements.

The four suspected Islamist fundamentalists include a suspected Al Qaeda plotter from Alum Rock, described by senior intelligence sources as “the most dangerous man in Britain”.

The alleged terror kingpin – who can only be referred to by his codename AY – was accused of being a major player in the 2006 plan to use liquid explosives to bring down 10 transatlantic airliners, killing 3,000 civilians.

Last night, a spokeswoman for West Midlands Police said: “Officers are constantly required to update their knowledge and skills through briefings and training events.

“This has recently included the handling of certain terrorist-related incidents and hosting national exercises in the West Midlands.

“The threat level does remain at severe – which means an attack is highly likely – so counter terrorism training is important to all operational personnel.

“In recent times the force has made improved resources available to the firearms unit. This is not in response to any specific information suggesting an increased threat to the West Midlands.

“However, it has enhanced the capability of the department to deal with a wide range of potential incidents. This is in line with a national plan to improve our ability to protect the public in such circumstances.

“For tactical reasons we do not discuss what equipment we have available but we can confirm that a number of vehicles and officers are routinely deployed around the force area on a 24/7 basis.”